


In Every Universe, Or Not At All

by st4rlabsforever (omaken)



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M, Mild Angst, Multiverse Adventures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 05:29:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6182386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omaken/pseuds/st4rlabsforever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cisco came up with the idea on his own.</p><p>Well. He mostly came up with the idea on his own. </p><p>He’d theorized that between his ability to see into the different universes and Barry’s ability to take them through the breaches with his speed, the two of them would be able to visit other Earths without restraint. Their powers seemed to be tailor-made to complement each other, and Cisco wasn’t sure what to think about that, so he didn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Every Universe, Or Not At All

**Author's Note:**

> anon wanted a soulmate AU on tumblr, and I started that but then got sidetracked and wrote this...
> 
> inspired loosely by [ this](http://theintrepidfern.tumblr.com/post/139817656136/dimension-hopping) doodle and [this](http://kaci3po.tumblr.com/post/140275476830) quote.

 

Cisco came up with the idea on his own.

Well. He mostly came up with the idea on his own.

He’d theorized that between his ability to see into the different universes and Barry’s ability to take them through the breaches with his speed, the two of them would be able to visit other Earths without restraint. Their powers seemed to be tailor-made to complement each other, and Cisco wasn’t sure what to think about that, so he didn’t.

Harry had helped him, of course. Mostly, he’d just probed the theory for any gaping holes and reluctantly told Cisco that he thought it would work, but a win was a win.

The real hero, though, was Reverb. Sure, he was a homicidal maniac and Cisco would sooner erase their entire meeting from his memory, but there was no doubt that seeing his doppelganger in action had helped Cisco to realize his own potential. It was a bit like quantum physics theories, Cisco thought.

There were the geniuses who developed and proved the theories that were the foundation of quantum mechanics; and there were the scientists who applied those foundations in clever ways to build particle accelerators and fashion superhero suits for speedsters.

Seeing his double shoot vibrational blasts from his fingertips and allow bullets to pass through his body was enough to demonstrate to Cisco that those feats were even possible with his powers. Reverse-engineering the reasoning behind how those powers worked followed easily.

This wasn’t to say that Cisco was a simple rank-and-file scientist or that Reverb was smarter than him, because Cisco was damn smart and he knew it, but the only way he’d known he could vibe was through reliving his traumatic murder at the hands of Eobard Thawne. And Harry had shown him on multiple occasions that his powers could be jump-started through fear and trauma, so Cisco wasn’t sure what he would’ve had to experience to realize he was capable of sonic blasts. All in all, he was grateful to Reverb for showing him the path forward.

 

* * *

 

“Seriously, you’re not gonna drop me, are you?”

Barry scoffed and made an offended little noise. “Ye’ of little faith. You really have to ask?”

“I’m just saying. Last time you literally held me by the neck the way lions grab their cubs.” Cisco would know. He watched a Discovery Channel special on the Serengeti a few nights ago.

After double and triple-checking with the Wellses that his inter-universe travel plan would work, he had immediately gone to Barry and proposed a field trip.

(“I don’t know…” Barry had said hesitantly.

“Come on, I thought you’d be excited about this, dude.”

“I am! It’s just…last time we went to another Earth, Joe died…”

“Okay, first. We were literally looking for trouble that time. I mean, our entire goal was to track down Zoom, right?”

“I guess…”

“And we learned our lesson about interfering. We’re just going to observe from a distance. No meddling at all. Don’t you wanna know if Earth-34 Cisco marries Zoe Saldana?” He wagged his eyebrows.

That got a laugh out of Barry, but he still seemed unconvinced.)

Cisco was smart though and knew exactly which buttons to push. He had seen Barry on Earth-2 – the guy had geeked out even harder than he had. He just needed a little push (really, just a gentle nudge) in the right direction.

By the end of the week, Barry was even more excited than he was and if he didn’t know better, he would’ve thought the whole multiverse expedition was Barry’s idea.

As it was now, Cisco was getting nervous about going through the breaches again. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Barry, but getting dragged though an interdimensional wormhole at breakneck speed all the while Barry’s grip on the back of his hoody being the only thing preventing him from becoming lost in time and space forever? He wasn’t about that life at all. He told Barry so.

And that was when Barry rolled his eyes and scooped him up bridal style.

“Better?”

He felt his face heat up.

This was much, much worse. Sure, Cisco definitely found Barry attractive enough in a passive way, the same way he found Caitlin and Iris attractive. And lord have mercy, he was glad their team-ups with Team Arrow were so infrequent because being in Oliver’s presence was far too distracting.

The thing about Barry was he was so affectionate that Cisco couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to date him. It wasn’t something he thought about often, but being pressed this tightly to Barry’s body against taut muscles, it wasn’t hard to let his mind wander.

These were just passing fancies though, and Cisco knew it.

First, he was fairly certain Barry was straight as an arrow, and if he wasn’t, then he hadn’t done anything to show it in the two years that Cisco had known him, never mind the fact that Barry was all eyes for Iris.

Second, there was Barry’s quite frankly awful track record with women. Cisco got that managing his personal life against his superhero persona was hard for Barry, but the lack of communication still managed to somehow be impressive. He still wasn’t entirely sure what had happened with Patty, but he honestly wasn’t surprised that she had walked away – he’d told Barry to just let Patty on the team, and Barry for some inexplicable reason took Harry’s advice over his.

More to the point, though, was the undeniable fact that anyone the Flash was romantically involved with would eventually be used as a pawn against him, if not by Zoom, then by the next villain – because make no mistake: in the kinds of lives they led, there would _always_ be another super villain on the horizon. Cisco was actually sort of glad that he would never be the one to put Barry in the position of having to choose between him and some unspeakably horrible fate for Central City.

Besides, it wasn’t like Cisco’s love life was lacking. He’d had Kendra and then a few dates with Lisa he’d tried to be sneaky about but Caitlin had found out about anyway, though she’d promised not to tell anyone.

“Intimate much, Bar?” Cisco grumbled.

“Quit complaining.”

Cisco felt fingers rapidly poking him in the sides before a surge of laughter overtook him and okay, no. They’d already figured out that this was one of the more devious uses of Barry’s speed and Cisco was in way no eager to relive that experience.

He focused, and Barry’s fingers went through his torso, causing two things to happen simultaneously: Barry yelped and promptly dropped Cisco on the floor.

“Ow, what the hell Barry?” He sat up and rubbed his back.

“Sorry! I thought – I thought I was hurting you…”

Cisco sighed. “We’ve been through this already, remember? I can phase through things now.”

To demonstrate, he walked straight up to and through Barry, who shuddered. When he and Reverb phased their bodies, it didn’t have the same vibrational effect as when a speedster did it, though Cisco wasn’t sure why. He had his theories, of course, but made a mental note to confirm with Harry before saying anything.

“Yeah, yeah. Ready to go now?” Apparently, Barry was insisting on the new arrangement because he picked Cisco up and held him close again.

“Okay, let’s do this.”

Cisco slipped the goggles on and focused, the whole of the multiverse laying itself out before him. He didn’t have a particular destination in mind, so he picked one direction and ran with it, feeling his connection to it strengthen before holding out a hand and feeling the energy flow to his fingertips. He released it and felt the vibrational wave flow out of him. When he opened his eyes, the breach was shimmering in front of them.

“Alright, hang on,” Barry said.

And then they were off.

 

* * *

 

Cisco dusted himself off and then closed the breach. Wouldn’t want anyone accidentally wandering back to their Earth.

He joined Barry a moment later.

“So, what are we calling this place?” Cisco asked.

Barry raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you the names guy?”

Cisco shrugged. “Why not just go in order? Earth-3.”

“Alright,” Barry said easily. “Let’s do some recon.”

They spent a few hours in the shadows doing research, careful to stay out of the spotlight. As far as super speed and phasing were concerned, it wasn’t a difficult task.

As it turned out, Earth-3 was remarkably similar to their Earth. The accelerator explosion still happened and Cisco and Caitlin still worked at S.T.A.R. Labs. Barry still lived with Iris and Joe and worked as a CSI. The Flash was still a respected hero.

There was just one small difference: Cisco was the Flash and Barry was the tech guy.

Cisco had to take a moment to marvel at that because _he_ was the hero in this universe.

And then he was throwing his words right out the window and saying that they absolutely had to meet their counterparts, because how could they not? Barry nodded along indulgently.

(“Okay, I know I said we’d keep our distance, but I mean, I’m the _Flash_!”

“Dude, I know.”

“And technically, we won’t be meddling because they already know about metahumans. And if we tell them about the breaches, they’ll keep it a secret, and-”

“Cisco!” Barry had finally interrupted him with a laugh. “I know, man. I’m _agreeing_ with you. I think we should meet them.”

“Oh.” And then he couldn’t stop grinning like a loon.)

“You guys are from another universe?” Caitlin 3.0 raised a skeptical eyebrow at them.

And okay, maybe they hadn’t thought this through well enough because he’d been trying to explain the concept of the multiverse to Cait-3 and Barry-3 for the past half hour (his doppelganger had apparently been off on a patrol).

“I mean, come on, we’re not lying about being metahumans.” He snapped a finger in Barry’s direction and as if on cue, Barry did a few laps around the Cortex, shooting a blast of lightning out into the corridor for good measure.

“That’s…new,” Other Barry said.

“I guess their blood tests _do_ check out,” Cait added.

Finally.

“So, why did you guys come here anyway?” Barry asked. Not his Barry.

And right on time, there was a blast of wind and papers scattering everywhere that signaled the entrance of this universe’s Flash.

“Nice one!” Barry-3 jumped up and the two of them exchanged a dramatic handshake not unlike the ones he and his Barry always did. Go figure. He was starting to think Barry had had a point with his whole _“The universe wants us to be bros”_ spiel.

“Uh…” his double said lamely when he turned and noticed the two extras.

Thankfully, Cait did all the explaining this time, bless her. It was only as she walked this universe’s Flash up to speed that Cisco noticed the ring on Barry 3.0’s, well, ring finger. Married, then.  

He didn’t have time to ponder much further though, because his doppelganger was terribly interested in learning the ins and outs of Earth-1.

“Seriously, you can see the future and visit other universes? None of us can do that here,” he said in wonderment and pulled off the cowl, shaking his sweaty hair out. Cisco had to admit, Earth-3 him rocked the spandex.

“Yeah, but this one over here does all the hero work,” he gestured over at Barry. “Right, Bar?”

“Huh?” Barry shook himself out of whatever daydreaming he was doing and looked up. If Cisco’s eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, he’d say that Barry’s usually pale skin was flushed.

“Everything alright, dude?” He felt Barry’s forehead with the back of his hand in concern.

“Hey, knock it off, everything’s fine,” Barry said. “Really, I was just thinking about…stuff,” he added when he noticed Cisco’s continued skepticism.

“Well, okay, but if you’re feeling down, say something. You remember what happened the last time you felt off, right?”

Barry nodded.

The others, to their credit, were looking on with polite interest when an alert went off on the monitors.

“Sorry, no time to talk now. See you later,” Other Cisco said, pulling the cowl back over his head.

“You got this, bro,” Other Barry gave him a squeeze on the shoulder and a look of admiration that Cisco only recognized because it was the exact same way he looked at his Barry when he saved an entire apartment complex from a fire or pulled a child out of falling car. It was good to know that this universe’s Flash could inspire the same admiration from those around him.

“Hey,” Barry murmured to him while the others were distracted. “I think we should get out of here.”

“What? We only just got here though.”

“I don’t know…I just have a bad feeling. We’ve already interfered by telling them about the multiverse and – and showing them the lightning trick and maybe we went a little bit overboard?”

“Well, alright, I guess you have a point. We’ll be more careful next time. But how cool is that?” he whispered, pointing back at the central console where the Flash was leaning over Barry-3’s shoulder looking at some blueprints.

Barry grinned at him before speeding them back outside. He still looked a little…not subdued, but wistful.

“Hey, did you see that ring on Barry’s finger? You’re married on Earth-3, dude!” he nudged.

“I saw…”

“Who do you think the lucky lady is?”

Barry scrunched his eyebrows. “What?”

“Your wife. Spouse. Whatever. Usually when you’re married, you have one of those, Barry. Try to keep up,” he said sarcastically.

“Right…”

“Maybe a Mrs. West-Allen, eh?”

“Huh?”

“The newspaper from the Reverse Flash’s lair, remember? It said Iris West-Allen.”

“Oh…yeah. That would be cool, I guess.” He flashed Cisco a grin.

Maybe Cisco was reading this whole situation the wrong way, but usually he and Barry had such an easygoing friendship that he rarely had to choose his words carefully or think too hard about what he said next – they just understood each other’s jokes and nerdy references and Cisco had never had that in a friend before. Caitlin was the probably his first real friend that truly understood him, but Barry represented an upswing in his life as far as being social was concerned. There was something about being able to shout out and complete each other’s Star Trek quotes that had Cisco feeling like they’d been friends forever after only a few short weeks (and that had Caitlin rolling her eyes affectionately).

But this moment felt off-kilter. A bit like they were walking in-sync and now the beat of their footsteps was just a little bit off, sort of like the thump-thump of a heartbeat. Barry didn’t seem upset about anything though, and he was a fairly contemplative guy, so Cisco didn’t want to push too hard.

“Hey, you know you can talk to me about anything, right? You’ve been there for me through it all, and I just want you to know that it’s reciprocated, man.”

“Thanks, Cisco.” He gave an ear-to-ear smile this time. “I promise, though, it’s seriously nothing.”

“Well, okay then.” Cisco focused and opened another breach. “Ready to lead the charge?”

Barry nodded and scooped him up.

“Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

Unfortunately, Earth-4 wasn’t the pick-me-up that Cisco had been hoping for.

After a day of extensive investigation, they’d figured out why they couldn’t find any trace of themselves on this Earth: they’d been long dead in this world.

Whatever the history of this planet was, it was technologically about four centuries behind their Earth and apparently written records weren’t ‘a thing,’ as the townspeople had so politely informed them.

They were pointed in the direction of cemetery that housed their bodies, but owing to the fact that they had died two centuries ago, there wasn’t much the residents could tell them about their lives.

_Here lies Bartholomew Henry Allen_

_Aug 24, 1801 – Jan 15 1889_

“Hey, yours is right next to mine,” Barry pointed out.

_Here lies Francisco Ramon._

So it was. That was…a coincidence. Their graves had been awfully close together the way they were for married couples, but Cisco guessed that they must have just been running out of space in the cemetery or something, especially given the surnames on their headstones.

“Looks like we lived long lives, at least.” He was trying to look for the silver lining here.

“True. What do you think we did?”

“Well, I don’t know about you,” Cisco said dramatically, “but Earth-4 Cisco was a successful farmer who had eight children. He lived to the ripe old age of ninety-one when he died of heartbreak because his third wife cheated on him.”

He knocked on the headstone for good measure and Barry chuckled.

“What about you?”

“I dunno. I guess it would be fun to be a detective. I mean, they were sort of like CSIs way back when, right?”

“Oh god, so if you’re Sherlock, does that make me Watson?”

“Hey, Watson was a pretty classy guy,” Barry laughed.

“Oh sure, in the new adaptations, but he was a fat, bumbling idiot before that,” Cisco argued.

Barry snorted. “He was just built, nothing wrong with a little extra weight.”  
  
“Easy for you to say. Lightning literally gave you abs, dude. I’m still my same unattractive self.”

Barry frowned. “What? You’re…Cisco, you’re not _unattractive_ ,” he said, as if he was personally offended on his behalf.

“Kinda been getting called that my whole life, buddy. Seriously though, I was just joking. I know there’s so much more to life than being attractive.”

“But, you’re _not_ though. Unattractive, I mean.” Barry looked honestly confused now.

It was genuinely sweet of Barry, but Cisco had long since come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t exactly eye candy. Not when there were guys like Eddie and Jay and Oliver in this world. Hell, no one gave him the light of day when he was sitting next to Barry except when they wanted to kidnap him and force him to build weapons for them. He was still a little sore about that, although Lisa had actually turned out to be a pretty charming person who had just been hurting on the inside. But he’d made up for a lack of attractiveness in other ways – it turned out being smart and having a sense of humor was just as sexy to most people.

Barry’s offense was adorable in a way that was just so uniquely Barry, but Cisco knew he had to cut him off now or else he’d start moping on his behalf, which, how did that even work when Cisco wasn’t even upset to begin with?

Barry still looked dismayed, though.

“Come on, let’s get out of here. I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking our journey’s been pretty boring so far. I mean, where’s the Earth where I’m stranded on a desert island and talk to a volleyball for four years, right?”

That got a laugh out of Barry. Score.

“Alright, find us somewhere exciting to go,” Barry grinned.

 

* * *

 

 

This may have been the fastest Cisco had ever regretted saying something in his life.

Their search for his Earth-5 self led them to a strip club where, according to the advertisements outside, Francisco Ramon was currently giving a show.

Barry was beside himself with laughter. “This enough excitement for you?”

“What the hell are you doing?” Cisco asked frantically as Barry whipped his phone out.

Barry was still struggling to contain his laughter, really more like high-pitched snorting at this point. “Caitlin and Iris are so gonna want video proof of this, man.”

“Absolutely not.” He reached desperately for the phone, but Barry used both his height and his speed to his advantage, holding it just out of reach above his head.

“So help me god, Barry, if you don’t hand it over, I _will_  find the universe where you have a fetish for eye-licking and strand you there for the rest of your life.” He wasn’t really going to do that, but apparently the threat had been sufficiently scary enough for Barry to meekly hand over the phone with a quickly mumbled ‘buzz kill.’

“Great. Now that that’s over,” Cisco said pleasantly, “shall we?”

Barry grumbled and led the way inside.

Cisco wasn’t sure why he bothered to come see himself on display – it felt strangely incestuous – but he had to admit a part of him was morbidly curious in much the same way one might slow down to stare at the wreckage of a spectacular car crash on the side of the road.

The first thing he noticed about his Earth-5 counterpart was that he wouldn’t be upset _at all_ if he had that body.

Barry’s face had grown steadily redder as the seconds passed by and Cisco rolled his eyes.

“Dude, we all know you’re a prude, but live a little, you stiff.” If he was going to be humiliated anyway, then he was at least going to own it.

Although, when he looked up, his doppelganger was performing a move so obscene and scandalous that Cisco wasn’t sure if it was even legal. Mostly though, he was confused how he’d gotten his body to contort like that.

“Uh…I gotta…” Barry managed before he literally flashed away.

What the hell? And great, he’d probably just blown their cover too, although there was no sign that the drunken revelers around him had even noticed anything. When Barry didn’t return after a few minutes, Cisco headed outside to search for him.

He noted that Barry had changed into a fresh set of clothes (where he had gotten them from, Cisco had no idea).

“Seriously, dude? We get it, just being in the presence of nudity is too sinful for you. No need to rub it in.”

“That’s not it at all…” Barry still looked red as a tomato.

“Um, excuse me, you’re blocking the entrance?”

They both turned to see where the voice had come from and Cisco had to let out a laugh, because the only way this situation could’ve been any more ridiculous was if Barry’s doppelganger had showed up too. And here he was, standing right beside them.

Barry-5 did a double take when he got a better look at Barry’s face.

“How are you…?”

“Uh…”

Barry flashed them away.

There was a tacit agreement between the two of them to never speak of that night again. Although if Cisco was being honest with himself, it was more like 40% embarrassing and 60% hilarious.

 

* * *

 

 

They visited dozens of other Earths. On some, they didn’t exist at all. On others, they were the best of friends, that same touchy-feely, affectionate and easygoing friendship that he and Barry had on Earth Prime. On one, they were even married, which Cisco found adorable, although it had taken them forever to realize it since Earth-25 Barry and Cisco hadn’t acted much differently than him and Barry, just an overwhelming sense of happiness.

They were finishing up their adventure at a quaint little burger joint on Earth-34. They’d figured it was about time to return to home before the others became too concerned.

“So, I guess the universe really wants us to be bros, huh?” Cisco said nonchalantly.

Barry froze for a moment and had on what Cisco had dubbed his ‘problem-solving face.’

When he received no answer after a few seconds, he said “okay, Barry, what is it now?”

“No, you’re right, or, uh, I guess I’m right,” he said earnestly. “It’s awesome that we always find each other.”

He flashed a grin that was so blinding Cisco was positive it could be weaponized to turn metas into unicorns, or something equally gushy.

The rest of the evening passed in companionable silence until Barry broke it.

“Hey, Cisco?”

“Yeah?”

“If you got married, um, to another guy, would you change your name?”

Cisco was taken back by the question. He was well adapted to Barry’s weirdness at this point, but this was a bit odd, even for him. But he rolled with it, because why not? It wasn’t exactly something Cisco thought about on a daily basis though, or even monthly, or at all basically.

“No, I guess I wouldn’t,” he said after a beat. “No hyphenating either. It’s like, just choose one already, right?”

Barry laughed a little before they lapsed backed into silence, content to lean back in their seats as their food comas set in. Cisco wondered if it was more intense for Barry with his rapid metabolism.

“I wouldn’t either,” Barry said after a few minutes had passed.

“Change my name, I mean,” he added when it was clear Cisco wasn’t following the conversation.

“Oh.”

Well, that was interesting. He and Barry frequently had spaced-out conversations like these on nights when they chilled after ordering takeout and putting on a rerun.

In any case, the past few days were a welcome respite from the non-stop crime fighting that they’d been dealing with lately. He’d called in a few favors and gotten Kendra and Sara to hold down the fort for a couple of days. He and Barry hadn’t really had any friendship time in a while and he’d definitely missed it.

 

* * *

 

On Earth-1, they were immediately thrown back into the action. Cisco’s powers had grown exponentially stronger over the past few weeks and in the end, stopping Zoom had been easy when they’d realized that Cisco could literally sever a speedster’s connection to the Speed Force.

He’d practiced on Barry first, who had insisted the process wasn’t painful, but Cisco wasn’t sure about that. Still, it was their only option and the practice had paid off when they’d soundly defeated Zoom without so much as a casualty.

After they had finished celebrating with everyone, Barry had pulled him quietly to the side and asked him to open a breach to Earth-2 (“Just to make sure Barry and Iris are safe over there,” he’d said).

They’d passed through the portal again, Barry holding him closely as had become their norm.

When they’d touched down safely, Barry had sped off and left him standing there like an idiot, which was how he found himself sitting on a nearby bench waiting for him to finish whatever the hell he’d run off to do without Cisco.

His hair blew across his face.

“Hey Cisco, can we talk?”

“Oh, finally decided to clue me in?” he asked dryly.

Barry plopped down next to him with a sigh. He was uncharacteristically nervous, though it was hard to tell if the fidgeting was due to anxiety or just pent up energy.

“Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but promise you’ll hear me out first.”

“Sure?”

Barry took a deep breath.

“So, remember back on that first Earth we visited, how the me there was wearing a wedding ring?”

Cisco nodded. He was still curious about that, actually.

“Do you think he was maybe married to you? I mean, to your doppelganger.”

What?

It took Cisco a few seconds to realize that he actually hadn’t voiced that thought.

“It’s just, the you there was wearing the suit the whole time and he could’ve been wearing a ring. It didn’t really make sense to me either, but Joe and Iris had a talk with me the other day–“ he blushed, “–and it got me to thinking, because it does make sense actually, in a logical, scientific kind of way.”

He was rambling now, so Cisco cut him off with a laugh. “What did they say to you that’s got you so worked up?”

Barry rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well, just that since Zoom’s gone now, I can focus on, um…on what really matters to me.”

“You’re gonna have to spell it out for me, man, because I’m not following…” Cisco raised an eyebrow and Barry winced.

“Um, Iris said that we…the two of us,” he gestured between himself and Cisco, “were basically already dating, and we act like a married couple–“

“That’s just an expression!” Cisco had to admit he was flummoxed – he wouldn’t have seen this conversation coming from a mile away.

“Right, I didn’t think so either, but Cisco, we complete each other’s sentences and Star Trek quotes, dude. You wipe the ketchup from my lips when we go out for burgers…”

“Because it’s gross!” Cisco said petulantly as Barry laughed. “And those are just friend things, right? Because full disclosure, you’re my best friend, in case you haven’t noticed.”

And okay, he and Barry were pretty affectionate with each other, but he was just following Barry’s lead on that one. He’d been in a handful of relationships before, some of them with other men, but it was a different sort of dynamic. Admittedly though, he’d never looked at Barry that way, mostly because he figured Iris West-Allen was a foregone conclusion. Hell, Barry had done nothing to indicate that that wasn’t the outcome he was gunning for.

“I don’t know…” Barry said, drawing him back to reality. “I kinda don’t have many other friends outside you and Caitlin and Iris. But I don’t do those things with anyone else, not even Iris…”

“Okay, okay, I’m still processing that…” And he was, because it was really a lot to take in at once. “But what does any of this have to do with Earth-3?”

“They were married, right? And I mean, they were basically us. We could’ve traded spots with them and no one would’ve noticed the difference…if you ignore the whole you-being-a-speedster thing. But it’s not just that,” he continued on. “What about at the cemetery? You can’t tell me you didn’t notice we were buried the same way they do for married couples. And you said it yourself: you wouldn’t’ve changed your name if you got married.”

So that was why Barry had asked him about marriage. “That was me on some weird, colonial version of Earth. Who knows what the me in that universe would’ve thought about it?”

“But it’s a possibility, right?” Barry countered, oddly persistent. “And what about Earth-5? The Barry there literally went to a strip club to see you naked.”

“First of all, that wasn’t me,” he said, because Cisco felt it was absolutely necessary to point out that little fact to Barry, who seemed to be reading way too far into what their alternate selves got up to in their free time. “Second, those were _alternate_ realities. Come on, Bar, don’t tell me you believe all that predestination and fate crap. We have free will and can choose how we want to live our lives.”

Barry groaned. “I don’t think I’m explaining myself very well.”

Cisco put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you try again from the beginning?”

Barry nodded and took a few seconds to compose himself.

“Of course I believe in free will. But you saw how happy we were on those Earths. And we were actually married on – what was it? Earth-25?” Cisco nodded mutely. “And I was thinking, what are we missing out on by not considering that option? Because I _like_ you, Cisco. I think our trip to the other Earths made me realize it more than anything.”

The last couple of words came out in a slur as Barry took a large breather.

“And well, I guess now you know…” he trailed off, kicking out a steady rhythm on the sidewalk with his feet.

Cisco was, for the most part, genuinely shocked. This was sort of a game changer. He had no idea that Barry was even interested in him like that.

“What about Iris?”

Barry’s eyebrows knit together. “Iris is…she’s been my best friend for as long as I can remember. I’ve just – for most of my life I prayed that she’d eventually feel the same way about me, but when you asked me about Iris back on Earth-3, I realized I haven’t thought about Iris like that in months now…not since Patty, I think,” he said sincerely.

“Oh.”

This was a bad idea, Cisco thought. This was such a bad idea. He’d imagined what a relationship with Barry might’ve been like, sure, but besides the obvious Iris roadblock (which apparently wasn’t in play anymore), there had been his obvious commitment issues and the damsel-in-distress role that anyone dating the Flash would inevitably be thrown into. And seeing how nonsensically Barry’s flings with Linda and Patty had ended, he wasn’t going to set himself up to be burned in a few weeks, months, or whatever, when they predictably decide that anything more intimate than best friends so obviously wouldn’t work for them.

He wasn’t even sure where to begin, but settled for a mostly-honest concession.

“I… _might’ve_ had a crush on you since you first woke up in S.T.A.R. Labs.” He flashed a quick smile at Barry and received one in return. “I’m actually a little shocked you didn’t notice immediately.”

But then they had fallen into a routine, a comfortable camaraderie, after Barry had gushed about Iris to him; Cisco had just been content to have Barry’s friendship.

“But you can’t think this is a good idea, Bar.”

Barry looked confused, so he plowed on.

“What if we were together when Zoom was still around? Do you know how bad I’d feel if you chose me over – over, I don’t know, all of Central City? I don’t want you to _ever_ be put in that position because of me, man.”

“That’s not fair,” Barry said immediately, squaring his shoulders in a way that told Cisco he was in it for the long haul.

Cisco was plenty stubborn, but there was only one person sitting on this bench who had argued that they should trust the man sharing the face of Cisco’s one-time murderer and won, and it wasn’t Cisco.

“You’re not just some defenseless bystander, Cisco. You’re a _hero_.”

“I’m the tech guy. I make _toys_ for you!”

Barry crossed his arms. “Bullshit. You’re the only reason we took down Zoom.”

“I was just the backup. I wouldn’t even have gotten within a ten feet of him if you hadn’t run me in there. The hero antics are all yours, dude.”

Barry was starting to look frustrated now.

“And it’s not like Zoom will be the end of it,” Cisco added, because apparently he had to twist the knife in deeper. “With our crazy lives, there’s always gonna be another baddie around the corner, and I won’t be your Gwen Stacy.”

There. He finally said it. He didn’t understand how Barry refused to see it. It wasn’t that he was scared of dying – he’d gladly give his life if it meant a thousand innocent people got to live – but his life wasn’t worth more than anyone else’s. Call him a cynic, but it wasn’t narcissistic to understand that the two of them would prioritize each other in ways that would be dangerous to Central City, given that their ragtag trio was all that stood between the public and the rogue metas.

“But you don’t understand!” Barry’s fingers were threaded through his hair, giving his usually effortlessly styled mop a disheveled look.

“You’re not Gwen Stacy. You’ve been practicing so hard with your powers and you’re literally the most powerful meta in the entire multiverse. If anything, _I’m_ Gwen Stacy…”

“You heard that?”

Reverb’s words had scared the hell out of him, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about Barry knowing the full extent of his powers.

“Just…you and Cait helped me figure out this whole superhero thing, even when I didn’t believe in myself. I don’t know why you can’t believe in _yourself_ ,” he said, honest doe-eyes looking at Cisco with nothing but adoration.

It floored and simultaneously terrified Cisco how much faith Barry had in him. He sometimes went down to the Pipeline when he thought no one was looking, wondering if it would one day be him behind the glass panels.

It was easy for Barry to hold Cisco to such a high standard. The Flash was Central City’s shining, incorruptible beacon of hope with a heart of gold and a forgiving streak that Cisco knew was bound to get him into trouble someday. It already had, actually, when he’d trusted Snart and welcomed Harry to the team, and yet he’d always emerged a better person for it. Even the pessimist in Cisco couldn’t help but admire that particular character trait.

Still, it frightened Cisco to no end that he wouldn’t live up to Barry’s quite frankly herculean expectations.

“Come on, Cisco, you’ll get the hang of it before you know it. Pretty soon, you’ll be the one rescuing me,” he said lightheartedly. “Just give me a chance, and I’ll prove to you that you’re cut out to be hero.”

Barry’s tone was so earnest, so sincere and heartfelt, that Cisco really had no defense. He wasn’t entirely sure there was a person alive who could say ‘no’ to Barry when he flashed those eyes. Even Cait had succumbed within the first month of Team Flash’s formation.

 _It’s super effective_.

“And when I prove it to you, you owe me a date. Deal?”

Cisco sighed. “Okay, you got it. But promise me we’ll still be friends when this tag team duo thing goes south.”

“Sure, not going to happen though,” Barry said easily.

 

* * *

 

 

Over the next few months, not much in Cisco’s daily routine changed, except that somewhere along the way, everything did.

He and Barry used to hang out a couple of days a week, sometimes after hours in the lab, sometimes back at Cisco’s apartment, but always on a sporadic schedule as Barry’s day job and night patrols permitted.

Now, Barry showed up in his workroom like clockwork. Sometimes they ordered in and wound down with a movie, other times they sparred, Barry doing his best to train him. And the thing was, Barry wasn’t actually a bad teacher. Cisco found that he was surprisingly patient, offering himself as a human target so they could more accurately model how the sonic blasts would work on an actual opponent (Cisco had adamantly refused at first, but super-healing made for a compelling argument) and coaching him through some hand-to-hand combat techniques that Oliver had taught him. Cisco had even managed to get in a solid right hook yesterday that he had instantly apologized for, but which had Barry grinning with pride.

Cisco waited for the other shoe to drop, for Barry to agree that maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all, only it never did.

Barry typically accompanied Cisco out into the field on his training runs, but tended to stay on the sidelines in case things got out of hand. In the first couple of forays, he actually had to yell at Barry, who had a tendency to worry and flash Cisco out of harm’s way at the first sign of trouble, which wasn’t only disorienting but also screwed with his aim.

(“Hey, stop doing that, would you?!”

“Those were bullets!”

“Dude, I can phase too. Stop worrying.” Cisco had swiped an arm across Barry’s torso in demonstration.

“Sorry…” Barry had at least had the grace to look sheepish. “I keep forgetting. It’s different than when I do it.”

He’d vibrated his hand and mirrored Cisco’s earlier movement, giving Cisco a look similar to a dog telling his owner ‘see? It wasn’t my fault!’

Cisco had sighed. “I know, I get it. Just…trust me a bit more, would you?”

Barry had given him a determined nod.)

The first time they went on a proper mission together as equals was electrifying. Their movements fit together like pieces of a puzzle, like they’d been choreographed centuries ago and their bodies were simply following the blueprints. It was rather breathtaking to experience, Cisco thought.

He’d learned how to use his powers to amplify Barry’s connection to the Speed Force, and Barry had broken Mach 4 for the first time since donning the suit. They took a trip across the Pacific to celebrate just because they could. And discovering that he could generate earthquakes with his vibrations was completely accidental, though Cisco quietly added it to his repertoire anyway.

They high-fived when Barry had pulled a particularly brilliant move where he’d picked Cisco up bodily and ran him in circles around the meta with crystalline skin. Cisco hadn’t understood what was happening at first, but let out a sustained blast when Barry told him to. The resulting implosion cleanly shattered her skin, no super sonic punch needed there.

“Okay, that was _awesome_ ,” Cisco breathed.

Barry gave both his shoulders a solid squeeze.

It was only when they were back in the lab and the others had left that Cisco approached Barry, who was just finishing off a session on the treadmill.

He waited a few moments for the speedster to notice him.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Barry questioned.

“Yeah, I think we could work.”

Cisco was fairly certain his heart stopped when Barry flashed him that megawatt smile.

 

* * *

 

 

The first time they had sex, it became abundantly clear to Cisco that Barry was pretty inexperienced – that, or he was sorely out of practice. Not that Cisco was all that experienced himself, but he’d been around the block enough times to know what he was doing.

The lesson here, though, Cisco thought, was that experience tended not to matter when his boyfriend was capable of vibrating every single part of his body.

It was also clear that Barry had absolutely no sense of pacing. Whether that was because of his general impatience or his super speed or both, Cisco couldn’t say, but it was the only explanation for why Cisco was currently leaning back on his sofa as Barry’s tongue vibrated steadily around his cock and a pair of Barry’s quivering fingers eagerly massaged his prostate.

Barry had started at a 10 and quickly ramped it up to 1000. Cisco was completely overwhelmed. It was all too much, too fast, and yet it was the most incredible thing he’d ever felt and he tried to hold it back, to prolong the pleasure, but it was like a 10-foot seawall trying to stop a freaking tsunami. He came hard shortly after, in what he was sure must have been record time for a non-speedster.

“Guh…”

He was in a daze, not really aware of Barry’s movements around him. It felt like his brain had been literally fucked out of his ears, or maybe some slightly less gross metaphor.

Barry reached an arm over to stroke him again and Cisco nearly jumped at the contact, still over-sensitized from the first time.

“Whoa, dude, not all of us have a five-second refractory period. Pretty sure I’ll actually die if you do that again.”

Barry pouted.

“Oh, don’t be like that. Besides, don’t you want help with _that_?” He gestured toward Barry’s erection and Barry nodded eagerly.

After they finished, Barry tossed a leg over Cisco and pulled him close, his body occasionally giving off a quick vibration that Cisco found oddly soothing. Blankets apparently weren’t necessary when Barry was a human furnace.

“Hey, Barry?” Cisco said slowly, his entire body in a stupor.

“Huh?” was the muffled response he received from under the pillows.

“I forgot to ask, why did you have me take us to Earth-2 after we beat Zoom?”

“Oh, _that_.” Barry’s poufy bed hair emerged first, followed by the rest of his face.

Cisco wasn’t sure he was going to like what he was about to hear.

“So I had a hunch,” Barry started.

“Go on…”

“It was bugging me that all the versions of us we saw on the other Earths were friends in some way. But that Barry didn’t seem to know Reverb even existed.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Well, it turns out that Earth-2 Barry and Cisco had a thing together. Before that Cisco went full-on evil.”

“ _What?!_ ”

He was more than slightly appalled. “He – Reverb was a _criminal_!”

“Yeah, but at least now we know we were friends on all the universes we visited, right?”

“ _That’s_ your take on this?”

“Go to sleep, Cisco,” Barry rolled his eyes affectionately before flopping back down into the covers.

Cisco supposed that maybe it wasn’t so horrible, his first doppelganger supposedly getting it on with Barry’s first doppelganger, although the thought of Reverb in bed with all that eyeliner on made him shudder.

Anyway.

“Barry?”

He grumbled and popped his head up again.

“Thanks for believing in me. And us.”

“That was all you, man.”

He gave Cisco a slow smile.

And Cisco had to take a moment to process this. Him. In bed. With the Flash. Zoom gone and his powers as Vibe fully-developed. Maybe they had to work on Barry’s speed in the sack, but things were looking up in the world of Cisco Ramon.


End file.
